Risk taking behaviour involving alcohol is a growing issue within our society so young people need to be aware of the long and short terms risks involved, how alcohol is abused and misuse; and its effects on themselves, their family and community.
The use of alcohol is widely accepted as most Australians have tried alcohol at some time in their lives. People use alcohol for a broad range of reasons and in different social and cultural situations. They may drink for sociability, cultural participation, or as a result of peer influence. They may also drink for pleasure, relaxation, mood alteration, intoxication, addiction or to ‘drown their sorrows’. Alcohol is consumed in various different settings, such as at pubs, clubs, restaurants, parties and at home. People may be at greater risk of alcohol misuse if they are a young adult experiencing
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There are different kinds of problem drinking behaviours that can impact everyday life, this is known as alcohol abuse – a dangerous or unhealthy drinking pattern. While under the influence of alcohol, individuals may make themselves vulnerable to various risk taking behaviours. These include short term and long term risks involving physical and mental health; accidents and injuries; and employment and finances. More specific examples of short terms risks are blackouts, vomiting, slurred speech, blurred vision, accidents while driving, injuries such as falls, as wells as violent and inappropriate behaviour. Detailed examples of long term risk taking behaviour are brain damage, memory loss, obesity, diseases, cancer, depression, financial problems and reduced work productivity. Alcohol abuse can harm your relationships, cause you to miss work, lead to legal problems such as driving while drunk. If you continue to abuse alcohol, it can lead to alcohol dependence, where you are physically or mentally addicted to alcohol.
Alcohol helps people remove their barriers; lose their inhibitions, and form friendships, relationships, and acts as a social lubricant. In Australia many business deals have been conducted over a drink or two.
Underage drinking is becoming a serious social issue in modern Australia; with 90% of Australian teenagers over 14 that have tried alcohol at least once. Estimates also suggest that half of Australia’s teenagers drink alcohol on a weekly basis. Underage drinking can cause drink driving and unsafe sex if it is misused. Australia seems to be fond of this drug, and find it to be socially acceptable although it is causing the amount of teenage deaths to rise rapidly due to misuse. Heavy use of Alcohol can also cause health issues later on in the lives of teens that are drinking alcohol. It is hard for parents to be able to prevent their teenagers from consuming and experimenting with alcohol, but they can at least kindly encourage their
Often, the alcohol will bring out a violent temper and often, alcoholics abuse, physically and mentally, their friends and family. Drinking makes the drinker feel he is more confident. The drinker thinks he is in control, even if a little high, and he might get behind the wheel of his car and go for a drive. Drunk driving is deadly. Hundreds of thousands of people get killed every year due to drunk driving.(Castro 60) Other physical effects of drinking are vomiting, passing out and sometimes, if enough alcohol is consumed over a long enough period of time, or if mixed with other drugs, death.
This pattern often encourages people to drink more to keep the buzz going." ( Net Biz Mentor ). When people get like that they usually get a little bolder and want to do normal tasks and routines like driving a motorized vehicle. The effects of alcohol result in poor coordination, slurred speech, double vision, decrease of self-control, lost of consciousness and maybe even death.
Binge drinking is one of the worst social behaviours as it starts at a young age and that is where the obsession starts, as an Australia study shows that 2,00 kids that have a sip of alcohol when they are young due to their parents. This can lead to future binge drinking by the time they are 15 to 16 years old. It has been estimated that 2,643 Australians die due to binge drinking each year. Some of the effects of binge drinking can cause are a loss of control of brain function, less aware of your surroundings as well as loss of your tolerance levels so they drink more and more. This is why binge drinking is an unsafe social behaviour.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Many young people are facing the consequences of excessive drinking, at a too early age. Because of this issue, underage drinking is a leading public health problem. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking including about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings (1–5).
While alcohol may not be the most dangerous of drugs, it is harmful nonetheless. There have been many research studies done by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that prove this to be true. Binge drinking is drinking with the purpose of getting drunk, and is the most common form of alcohol consumption while it is also the most dangerous. There have been numerous researches by other organizations and scientists that have demonstrated just how dangerous underage drinking can be. These facts cannot be denied and further the belief that underage drinking is very serious and dangerous. Not only does a person run the risk of being arrested for illegal activity, a person can also be harmed.
Alcohol consumption amongst the youth is now the new future and the way teenagers tend to live their life. It is apart of the Australian norm and culture however, what drives the younger youth to drink?. Australians accept alcohol as a social drug yet it is responsible for the most related deaths amongst the teenage population. Social aspects such as ones peers, gender, risk taking behaviour and environmental factors all relate back to alcohol. The idea of culture is linked with religion, Indigenous practices coupled with parenting skills also leading to consumption. Finally, an economical approach can be explored when dealing with commercializing beverages, pricing and health expenditures. All these concepts interrelate then become an excuse for one
There are many consequences that can be caused because of this for example your at a bar drunk with friends and you didn't tell your girlfriend that you were going to go out that night. Your girlfriend asks you where you were and since your drunk you are most likely to say something very stupid that you are not aware, so when your girlfriend confronts you about this you wouldn't have a clue about anything that she is talking about.
For many Australians, alcohol consumption is a pleasurable part of everyday life (Parliament of Victoria 2004). However in recent years there have been several reports highlighting that the proportion of adolescents consuming alcohol and the amount of alcohol they are drinking is at record levels (AIHW 2008; White and Hayman 2006; Shanahan and Hewitt 1999). The long and short term sequelae associated with risky or high risk alcohol consumption include negative physical, emotional and social consequences (NHMRC 2001). Immediate harms include accidents, injuries, decreased scholastic and sporting performance, aggression, violence, assault, disrupted family relationships, high risk sexual activity,
In some cases, that are extreme, people can die from in taking too much alcohol in one single occasion or could have alcohol poisoning from having too much. Just like when people over dose on drugs people can stop breathing or even stop your heart which therefore means they have to go into hospital and they could be on their death bed. The main worry when people have and too much drink that they might choke on their vomit this is a problem because the more you drink the more vulnerable you are so you could find yourself in the middle of nowhere and they wouldn’t know what’s happening and could choke on their vomit and no one would be around to look after them and they could end up dying. Weight gain can be a massive impact due to the amount of calories alcohol contains if people are constantly binge drinking they are drinking more which equals to consuming more calories which can cause people becoming obese. Skin can also be damaged because alcohol dehydrates your body and skin, it widens blood vessels so makes your skin look all blotchy and red. Calcium can also be reduced in the amount that is taken in by a person because alcohol interferers with the body ability to absorb this calcium the body requires. Therefore, binge drinking can cause lasting damage on your physical health as well as the way you
Young people are considered to constitute the largest number of alcohol consumers and they account for a large portion of alcohol sales. This is despite the strict drinking laws that govern many countries as regards alcohol purchase and consumption. Underage drinking, which has been on the increase, is allegedly the major cause of alcohol-related problems facing the modern
There are some long-term effects on the body due to the abuse of alcohol. You can end up with brain damage, and dementia. Common disease resulting from excessive alcohol consumption are pancreatitis, gastritis, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and heart disease. Alcoholics are also at risk for developing cancer in the mouth, throat, esophagus and even the liver. You can also develop psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety which may lead to suicide. Woman who are pregnant shouldn’t drink alcohol because it will cause damage to the fetus.
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While drinking might make you feel good now, if you abuse that alcohol it may lead to serious complications later. Heavy drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks in a day for women and five or more drinks in a day for men (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Alcohol is considered a depressant, so it is only seen fit that one of the chief effects of alcohol on the brain is to depress central nervous system functioning. In turn it may be why major depressive disorders occur in those who abuse alcohol. If the alcohol abuse continues over a period it intensifies into an alcohol dependency. Alcohol has effects on the body both mentally and physically. After a certain limit alcohol will slur your speech, increase your reaction time, and make you lose co-ordination. Alcohol consumption, particularly long-term alcohol dependence has many physiological ricks to consider, such as permanent damage to the brain, alcoholic liver disease, pancreatitis, alcohol poisoning